ZTE Axon 7

[jamezr]

This looks like an awesome phone!!
Flagship specs for under $500

The ZTE Axon 7 is a high-end Android 6.0 phone with a 5.5-inch 2560×1440 AMOLED display.
There are front-facing speakers at the top and bottom of that screen, as well as an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. ‘Round back there’s a 20-megapixel camera with an f/1.8 aperture, phase detection autofocus, and optical image stabilization, as well as a fingerprint reader.

Inside of the Axon 7’s 7.9mm-thick body lives a Snapdragon 820 processor, 3250mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 support, USB Type-C, and NFC. One model of the Axon 7 will include 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, while the second version will bump things up to 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a Force Touch display, too. However, both phones include microSD slots for adding more storage.

 

[mervy0384]

thanks my friend for that

 

[Tsepz]

Seriously, I have been saying for the last 2years that the Chinese OEMs Huawei and ZTE are set to unsettle the top dogs, last year they got the Hardware, this year they are refining the software and hardware.

The Axon 7 if pushed correctly could have ZTE appealing to would-be Galaxy Note, LG phablet, Sony phablet or HTC phablet buyers. I think branding is key for the Chinese OEMs, Huawei has got it almost right, with Pseries and Mate series, I hope ZTE can do the same, get a simple & consistent naming convention going, they now have the top tier hardware, and good software, its time to promote it properly.

 

[ozaz]

Seriously, I have been saying for the last 2years that the Chinese OEMs Huawei and ZTE are set to unsettle the top dogs, last year they got the Hardware, this year they are refining the software and hardware.

The Axon 7 if pushed correctly could have ZTE appealing to would-be Galaxy Note, LG phablet, Sony phablet or HTC phablet buyers. I think branding is key for the Chinese OEMs, Huawei has got it almost right, with Pseries and Mate series, I hope ZTE can do the same, get a simple & consistent naming convention going, they now have the top tier hardware, and good software, its time to promote it properly.

Something that has put me off the new Chinese OEMs is Android version and security updates.

The major manufacturers are by no means impressive when it comes to updates but I've been assuming the newer Chinese OEMs will be even worse. Is this assumption justified?

 

[Tsepz]

Something that has put me off the new Chinese OEMs is Android version and security updates.

The major manufacturers are by no means impressive when it comes to updates but I've been assuming the newer Chinese OEMs will be even worse. Is this assumption justified?

It is certainly justified with ZTE and some of the others, Huawei on the other hand has been decent, I think OnePlus is probably the best at updates when it comes to Chinese OEMs.

 

[ozaz]

It is certainly justified with ZTE and some of the others, Huawei on the other hand has been decent, I think OnePlus is probably the best at updates when it comes to Chinese OEMs.

Would you say Huawei and OnePlus are faster than, say, Samsung?

 

[Tsepz]

Would you say Huawei and OnePlus are faster than, say, Samsung?

OnePlus, are better than Samsung at updates, but Huawei I'd say are behind. The Huawei Mate 7 arrived around the same time as the Galaxy Note 4, but the Mate 7 only got 5.1.1 like 2months ago and there is little talk about 6.0.1 vs. The Note 4 that got 6.0.1 last month.

I'm hearing that things are pretty quite for the new Mate 8 with regards to updates to, despite it needing some TLC for some minor things.

 

[Wildo6882]

OnePlus, are better than Samsung at updates, but Huawei I'd say are behind. The Huawei Mate 7 arrived around the same time as the Galaxy Note 4, but the Mate 7 only got 5.1.1 like 2months ago and there is little talk about 6.0.1 vs. The Note 4 that got 6.0.1 last month.

I'm hearing that things are pretty quite for the new Mate 8 with regards to updates to, despite it needing some TLC for some minor things.

OnePlus IS NOT better than anyone at updates. The OnePlus 2 still doesn't have Marshmallow to this day!

 

[Tsepz]

OnePlus IS NOT better than anyone at updates. The OnePlus 2 still doesn't have Marshmallow to this day!

What? I remember seeing posts about the OnePlus One getting Marshmallow, odd that the 2 doesn't have it yet, that is awful.

 

[Wildo6882]

What? I remember seeing posts about the OnePlus One getting Marshmallow, odd that the 2 doesn't have it yet, that is awful.

Yeah, it still isn't released. Remember, the 1 had an OS from Cyanogen and the 2 is all OnePlus.

 

[Tsepz]

Yeah, it still isn't released. Remember, the 1 had an OS from Cyanogen and the 2 is all OnePlus.

Totally forgot about this, the OnePlus 2 uses their own Oxygen UI. What a shame, OnePlus well and truly dropped the ball with the 2 it seems. At this point they may as well skip Marshmallow and jump to N.

 

[maxsix]

One Plus has been very good at creating buzz, but their OS variables, switching from Cyanogen to others has been less than stellar. While Huawei and others haven't been the quickest to update, at least they haven't been switching between various OS's.

 

[ozaz]

Putting aside OS version updates, what what about the monthly Android security patches?
Have any of the newer Chinese OEMs gained a good reputation for staying up to date on these?

Samsung have been pushing out the security patches on my S6 within one month of Google releasing them, which I'm happy about.

 

[AppleRobert]

I have an Axon Pro I picked up cheap back when. Great phone especially for audio but it is hefty.

Updates? It has 6.0 folks.

 

[jamezr]

I might have to get the Axon 7 when this comes to the US. Best of both worlds would be if TMO carries it. The hands on videos make this a great phone. Can't wait to read some reviews.

 

[Blaze4G]

This phone is ticking all the right boxes for me. Only thing I am not a fan of is the black bars at the top and bottom like what HTC did with the m7-m9. I haven't seen a phone yet to make me want to upgrade from my 6p until now.

 

[maj71303]

This is the first phone that has peaked my interest this year.

 

[nj-morris]

Along with many other aspects of this phone, all OEMs should offer a case included.

 

[Wildo6882]

Anyone heard any rumors of a release date?

 

[jamezr]

Anyone heard any rumors of a release date?

No hard release date. All the articles said was a few weeks.

 

[Wildo6882]

No hard release date. All the articles said was a few weeks.

Thanks. This thing really looks nice. And I love the free extended warranty.

 

[Savor]

ZTE is getting better and better just like Huawei. ZTE ranks #4 in the United States among OEMs. Just picked up a ZTE Zmax 2 for $59.99 which is on sale on Best Buy as I type this. It was $99.99 a few days ago and Walmart still has it at that price. I basically got a $30 Lumia 640, $30 Moto E 4G (AT&T), and $60 ZMax 2 for a total of $120. Three food stamp dirt cheap phones that would cost about $500 combined if bought in the Philippines. My fav to use is the ZTE while the Lumia 640 and its dead OS takes the best photos and CLEAR RECEPTION because of its Nokian quality. Moto E 4G is just a 5th wheel but I like its splash resistance since it rains constantly here.

My gf who I decided to get back with kept telling me she has no interest in anything ZTE. She underestimates the Chinese just like when I told her Xiaomi is better than HTC but didn't listen to me at first. ZTE is getting better. She hates Alcatel (TCL). I hate O+, a wannabe USA brand because an office based there. Maybe she will come around liking ZTE like she did to Xiaomi being the phone and value perfectionist I can be. This Axon might take alot of design cues of the HTC Ones which also Huawei tried to copy, but it doesn't mean ZTE is a weak brand.

Amazing era of phones we live in. I can go buy a sub-$100 Android smartphone and it beats the living crap of flagships like a Nexus 4 or Galaxy S4 from a few years ago except maybe in benchmark scores that don't mean squat to me as Iong as I can get a more enjoyable experience on a bigger display for Camfrog fun with Dolby to boot.

 

[autumn]

This phone is ticking all the right boxes for me. Only thing I am not a fan of is the black bars at the top and bottom like what HTC did with the m7-m9. I haven't seen a phone yet to make me want to upgrade from my 6p until now.

Nobody have pointed out but according to this YouTube hands on video you could move the software navigation buttons down to the black bar above the lower speaker so it wouldn't take away the space of the 5.5inch screen. Although the particular model in the video is the 6gb ram and 128gb. I would imagine and hope that it is a software function which the international model will have it too. That'd be icing on the cake for me.

 

[Blaze4G]

Nobody have pointed out but according to this YouTube hands on video you could move the software navigation buttons down to the black bar above the lower speaker so it wouldn't take away the space of the 5.5inch screen. Although the particular model in the video is the 6gb ram and 128gb. I would imagine and hope that it is a software function which the international model will have it too. That'd be icing on the cake for me.

it just keeps getting better and better with this phone it seems haha. I prefer buttons in this order
All capacitive
on screen buttons
2 capacitive and physical home button (hate physical home buttons).

ZTE seems to have implemented something like what LG did with the V10. Although it is not a separate screen, the bottom there seems to only have the buttons and nothing more. This phone would look really slick in all black.

 

[autumn]

I can confirm from another hands on video that the 64gb 4gb ram model has the capacitive key option also. It's "navigation keys" under settings.